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Tuesday June 25, 2013

Fort Regent staff member Mick Le Vaillant, his wife and
twenty-five other intrepid adventurers from Jersey arrived at
Glasgow airport, ready to undertake what was to be an epic six-day
charity challenge to raise money for the Grace Crocker Family
Support Foundation. The team had been training for months, and were
as prepared as they could be to climb the three highest peaks in
the UK AND cycle in between.

There were a few nerves showing as the group met their cycle and
mountain leaders from the More Adventures company. They were
transferred to Glen Nevis to tackle the first mountain, Ben
Nevis.

After a quick brief, they began the climb from the Glen Nevis
Visitor Centre and were blessed with one of the best mountain days
experienced by the mountain leaders, Danny and Tom. Clear blue
skies, no wind and superb views made the 1300 metre climb to the
summit almost pleasurable! The whole team were up and down in no
time at all, this was an incredibly fit and determined team.

The support crew had assembled the bikes by the time they got
back to the visitor centre. As the climbers came down off the
mountain, they jumped on their bikes and cycled the few miles into
Fort William and to their accommodation.

The following morning, the team did some last minute sorting of
bikes and kit, then Luke, the cycle leader, led the first group
off. Our route took the team south on the A82 to towards Glasgow.
Along the way, the team climbed the famous route up Glencoe, down
over Rannoch Moor then along the banks of Loch Lomond, with
stunning scenery, some challenging climbs and awesome downhill
stretches.

It was obvious how much preparation the riders had been doing
and soon the team had arrived just West of Glasgow for the second
night of their journey.

The next day the riders left shortly after breakfast and
continued their ride south. The teams kept close together as they
skirted around the south-west of Glasgow. There was a great deal of
stop-starting, with traffic lights causing absolute mayhem. Further
into the ride, the teams suffered no less than five punctures, a
broken brake cable and a monster climb right in the middle of the
day!

They rode through rain and wind, battling the elements for over
12 hours and stopping only for food and water. It was a long day,
covering a distance of over 105 miles. There was a great deal of
relief as the heavens opened just as the last group arrived at our
hotel in Gretna. The food that evening was fabulous and just what
27 hungry cyclists needed. The group were briefed on the following
day, then they all retired to their beds for a much-deserved
rest.

The rain drizzled down first thing. Today would be the first
cycle and mountain day as they were heading into the Lake District
and to the highest peak in England, Scafell Pike. Spirits were high
(a mighty all-you-can-eat buffet breakfast in the brilliant hotel
helped!) as the teams left. The route headed south towards Carlisle
through rolling hills and quaint English farmland before reaching
the A66 into the heart of the Lakes. From Keswick, the teams cycled
along the glorious banks of Derwent Water to Seathwaite where lunch
was served.

After a quick change into their mountain gear and a bite to eat,
the team of 27 riders, began their ascent of Scafell Pike along the
Corridor Route. There were a few spicy sections (jalapeno-rated)
which necessitated a hands-on approach, but the team (who had
already smashed out over 50 miles!) tackled these with ease.

The team were soon stood on the summit, the second of the
journey, then made their way back to Seathwaite where the riders
grabbed bikes and cycled back to the hotel in Keswick. Luke, the
Cycle Leader, had been to the local bike shop and had couple of
buckled wheels fixed, bought a new tyre and sorted a few other
minor faults with the bikes.

The next morning, the exertions of the long and arduous previous
three days were beginning to show but the riders were still in high
spirits and keen to get on. The route left Keswick (impossible
without a hill or two!) then straight south along the beautiful yet
busy A591. They stopped for lunch in Lancaster before continuing
south. Team 1 arrived into the hotel around 19:30 with Team 2
arriving shortly afterwards. The final slog up the hill really
tested every rider, understandably after a brutal 110 miles in the
saddle! Team 3 arrived a little later and had been held up a great
deal with a series of punctures and other bike problems. Every
member of the group greeted them at the hotel door - it was a very
touching moment and undoubtedly boosted the already impressive team
spirit. Danny and Tom went out to collect some pizza and a Chinese
and returned with a banquet to satisfy even the hungriest of
cyclists!

The final day had arrived. It was an early breakfast as riders
fuelled up for the long day ahead. They left in two main groups and
had a short but sharp descent towards the sea before heading
south-west into the unforgiving hills of North Wales.

There were some tough climbs followed by some even tougher
climbs as the teams pushed themselves to the absolute limit. As the
final day, it was a real test of determination and resolve. Both
teams arrived at Capel Curig for some lunch and were subjected to
an inspirational and rousing speech by mountain leader Danny. They
weren't going to give up and had come too far to throw in the
towel.

The support vans were parked at the foot of Snowdon and the team
began the final mountain climb at around 18:00. The weather was
looking atrocious and both More Adventure Mountain Leaders knew it
was touch-and-go whether a summit bid was even possible given the
strong winds and torrential rain forecast for the summit. This was
where the team would have to push themselves like never before.
They'd cycled for nearly 500 miles ascending around 3700 metres,
AND climbed the highest peaks in Scotland and England - a total of
over 2200 metres…all in the space of 5½ days! This was going to be
a huge ask.

The weather began to deteriorate as the group climbed. It was
obvious that people were just going through the necessary motions,
and at times, the whole team fell silent with the exertion involved
after such a long journey. There was no doubt that had this team of
incredibly fit individuals would have hopped, skipped and jumped up
this mountain had it been the first day! There was still humour
there though, they couldn't help but giggle at a guy coming back
down with his girlfriend dressed not in Gore-Tex, but what looked
like a tweed smoking jacket. He was drenched and his girlfriend
looked less than impressed.

The team plodded on and reached the saddle just beneath the
summit, in just after two hours in. The wind really picked up here
and gusted at around 60mph as the team made their way up the final
few hundred metres to the summit. The cloud was down and it was
around 0ºC with wind chill. THEY ALL DID IT! All twenty-seven
clambered slowly and carefully up the trig-point mound and hugged
the tower of concrete at the highest point of Snowdon. What an
astonishing achievement for all to have made it!

It was not safe to hang around so the team quickly congratulated
each other, took some video footage and photos, then got back down
slowly with some very sore knees throughout the team.

Back at the car park the team were met by the rest of the
support crew, with some fizzy and big hugs! They were transferred
back to their hotel in Betws-y-Coed for showers, a fabulous Indian
buffet and two very moving speeches by both Nigel and Aidan.

The team had achieved so much and, even in the absolute face of
adversity (punctures, broken cables, buckled wheels, brutal hill
climbs, swollen 'water-melon' knees, spicy rock steps, atrocious
weather…the list goes on), had fought through. Their passion and
effort shone through all of this, and they had proved themselves
not only as determined, fearless and unequivocally fit individuals,
but also a group with an extraordinary ethos of teamwork and
support. There had been tears, laughter, sweat, grime and aches,
but the whole team pulled through. An incredible performance by all
involved.

If you would like to find out more about The Grace Crocker
Family Support Foundation, a charity that offers financial and
emotional support to parents whose children are sick, you can do so
here: http://www.gracecrocker.org/Welcome.html

This Ultimate Three Peaks Challenge was to raise money for this
incredible cause. If you would like to donate, you can do so here:
http://www.charitygiving.co.uk/gracecrockerfsf Fort regent held a 2
hour Charity workout on Monday the 20th May. This was to raise
money for the Grace Crocker Family Support Foundation, and the
Jersey Cheshire homes.

This is the moment, when Mick Le Vaillant, handed over the money
raised for the Grace Crocker Family Support Foundation, to the
president of the charity Nigel Crocker at the Fort Regent gym.